Roller skate with spring biased steerably interconnected tandem wheels



Oct 1955 R. LUNDGREN ROLLER SKATE WITH SPRING BIASED STEERABLY INTERCONNECTED TANDEM WHEELS Filed Aug 11, 1953 DIRECTION 22 OF MOTION I6 INVENTOR Robe! i L ulzdg'ren ATTORNEY United States Patent C ROLLER SKATE WITH SPRING BIASED STEER- ABLY INTERCONNECTED TANDEM WHEELS Robert Lundgren, Port Jefferson, N. Y. Application August 11, 1953, Serial No. 373,521 1 Claim. (Cl. 28011.23)

This invention relates to roller mounted devices, and more particularly to a floating axle roller skate, which can be easily steered by a skater.

Conventional roller skates are usually provided with fixed axles which are not adapted to cooperate with turning movements of the skater. It is desirable that 2,719,724 Patented Oct. 4, 1955 organization and use, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the taken along line 22 of Fig. l;

the skater be able to impart a steering movement to the ularly desirable in certain types of skating, such as dance skating and figure skating, for example.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved roller skate construction having means for steering the rollers of the skate.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a roller skate in which steering movements of the front and rear rollers are coordinated with each other to permit ease of turning.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a roller skate assembly in which the front and rear rollers and the supports therefor are so constructed as to automatically provide an off-set caster effect in both forward and reverse motion of the skate which permits the skate to be steered in a curved path in either direction of motion.

In accordance with these objectives, this invention provides a roller skate assembly having a front and rear housing rigidly mounted underneath the front and rear ends of the skate base plate. Each housing supports a forked roller supporting member for limited angular or pivotal motion about a vertical axis. Each forked member supports a skate roller upon an axle which can shift longitudinally along slotted tracks or grooves provided in the forked member. Upon a forward motion of the skate, each axle shifts to the rear of its respective supporting slots while on a reverse motion of the skate, each axle shifts to the forward portion of its respective slots. in either case, each roller is off-set from the vertical axis about which its forked support member is pivoted to thereby provide an ofi-set caster effect in either direction of motion of the skate which permits the skater to steer the skate by leaning in the direction of the desired turn and exerting a twisting motion on the forward portion of the skate.

Movement of either forked roller supporting member about its respective vertical axis is communicated to the oppositely disposed forked roller supporting member through a gearing arrangement contained within each housing, the respective oppositely-disposed gearing arrangements being interconnected with each other by a shaft which extends between the two housings. Analignment spring is provided to return the roller supporting forks into alignment with each other after the steering force has been removed.

The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claim. The invention, itself, however, both as to its Fig. 3 is a fragmentary frontelevation view, partially in section, of the skate of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of a skate in accordance with the invention, showing the position assumed by the front and rear rollers when the skate is making a left turn while in forward motion.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in Fig. l a skate assembly generally indicated at 10 comprising a base plate 12, which is rigidly attached to a-shoe 14 by means of suitable fastening means, such as screws 16. A pair of substantially identical front and rear housings 18 and 18', which are in the form of hollow cylinders, are rigidly attached, as by welding, for example, to the front and rear portions of the underneath surface of the base plate 16. A pair of forked roller supporting members 20 and 20', respectively, are supported for pivotal motion about a vertical axis by the respective housings 18 and 18. Each of the forked members is provided with a vertically extending neck portion 22 and 22', respectively. Each forked member 20 and 20' comprises a pair of spaced side portions 24 and 24' whichdepend downwardly from the lower end of the respective neck portions 22 and 22.

Each forked member is supported for pivotal rotation about a vertical axis by a suitable bearing, such as the ball bearing assembly 26. Each ball bearing assembly has an inner race 28 attached to the outer periphery of the respective neck portions 22 and 22' and an outer race 30 supported by the inner periphery of the respective housing members 18 and 18', with ball bearings 32' being disposed between the inner and outer races of each bearing assembly.

Each of the forked members 20 and 20' terminates at its upper portion in a neck portion 34 and 34 of reduced diameter upon which is rigidly mounted a bevel gear 36 and 36', respectively, for rotation in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis. Each of the bevel gears 36 and 36 cooperates with a respective mating bevel gear 38 and 38' positioned at right angles to the bevel gears 36 and 36' for rotation in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis. The gears 38 and 38' are each respectively rigidly attached through suitable coupling means to opposite ends of a horizontal shaft 40 which extends between the housings 18 and 18', the shaft 40 being supported for rotary motion by bearings 42 and 42 extending from the rear and front, respectively, of the housings 18 and 18..

The vertical bevel gear 38 is disposed toward the rear of housing 18, while the gear 38 is disposed toward the front of housing 18. The lower end of each of the housings 18 and 18' is closed by a bearing nut member 44 which threadedly engages the lower wall portion of its respective housing 18 or 18'. An alignment spring 46 extends between the two forked roller supporting mem bers 20 and 20, the spring being attached to the arm members 48 and 48', which are respectively secured to or integral with the forked roller supporting members 20 and 20'. The spring 46 serves to limit the angular rota- Thus, for example, a counter-clockwise motion of gear 36 about its vertical axis, such as would be caused, for example, by making a left turn on the skate, imparts a clockwise movement to gear 38 (looking toward the rear of the skate in Fig. 1), which, in turn, causes a clockwise motion of .shaft 40, looking in the same direction. This causes a clockwise motion of gear 38' (still looking toward the rear) which causes a clockwise motion of gear 36 Clockwise m'otionof gear 36' causes a clockwise motion of forked roller support 20' about its vertical axis. The view shown in Fig. 4 illustrates the movement of the rollers which occurs when the skater is making a left turn while in forward motion. I

Each of the roller supporting members 20 and 20' supports between its respective spaced side portions 24 and 24' one of the rollers and 15', each of which is supported for rotation on one of the respective axles 17 and 17.

An important feature of the invention is the arrangement which permits each of the roller members 15 and 15, to always rotate on an axis which is off-set from the vertical axis of its respective roller supporting member 20 or 20' to thereby provide an off-set caster elfect in either direction of motion of the skate to facilitate ease of steering of the skate by the skater.

The inside surface of each of the oppositely disposed spaced side portions 24 and 24' of the fork members 20 and 20' is provided with a slot or groove 25 which serves as a bearing or bearing track for the oppositely disposed ends of each of the respective axle members 17 and 17' upon which the respective rollers 15 and 15 are mounted for rotation.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the grooves 25 extend all the way through the respective side portions 24 of the forked members 20 and 2b. Plates 27 are then rigidly attached to the outer surfaces of the respective side portions 24 to cover the grooves, plates 27 being attached by welding or by screws 29, as shown. I The respective axles 17 and 17' are free to move lengthwise within the respective grooves 25 in which they are supported. When the skate is moving in a forward direction', each of the respective axles 17 and 17 automatically moves to the rear of its respective bearing grooves 25. Similarly, when the skate is moving in a reverse direction, each of the respective axles 17 and 17 moves to the forward portion of its respective bearing grooves.

In other words, the axles 1'7 and 17' always move in an opposite direction to the direction of motion of the skate, so that if the skate is moving forwardly, the axle moves to the rear end of its respective bearing grooves or slots, while if the skate is moving in reverse, each respective axle moves to the forward portion of its respective bearing grooves.

Thus, it will be seen that for both forward and reverse direction of motion of the skate, the axle is always laterally off-set from the vertical axis about which its respective forked roller supporting member 20 or 20' rotates. Therefore, each of the rollers 15 and 15' is alwaysin effect an off-set caster regardless of the direction of motion of the skate.

As will best be seen in Fig. 3, the rollers 15 or 15 are supported for movement with a very low degree of friction. The roller is preferably formed of rubber, or some similar material, and is supported by a hollow bushing member 50, the axle 17 or 17 being located along the central axis of the bushing. Roller bearings 52 are disposed between the outer periphery of the axle 17 and the inner periphery of the bushing for the greater portion of the length of the axle. However, the bushing is recessed at its opposite ends to receive the ball bearing assemblies 54. Thrust washers 56 may be disposed on either side of the respective ball bearing assemblies 54.

When the skater desires to negotiate a turn, he leans in the direction of the desired turn and exerts a twisting motion on the toe of the skate. The view shown in Fig. 4

grooves 25, has shifted substantially 45 degrees in a clockwise direction (looking at the bottom of the skate as seen in Fig. 4). Similarly, the roller 15' on the axle which is located in the rear of its respective grooves 25, has been shifted by the same angle in a counterclockwise direction with respect to the view shown in Fig. 4. The angular rotation imparted to the respective rollers 15 and 15 was obtained by the skaters leaning in the direction of the desired turn and exerting a twisting motion on the toe portion of the skate. The fact that each of the rollers 15 and 15 rotates upon an axle off-set from the vertical axis of rotation of its respective forked roller supporting member permits the steering movement to be imparted to the rollers. The alignment spring 46 between the two forked members 20 and 2%) serves to limit the angular movement of the rollers to substantially 45 degrees and further serves to return the forked members into alignment when the skate is lifted after the turning movement is completed.

Furthermore, the gearing arrangement interconnecting the respective forked roller supporting members 20 and 20", as previously described, causes the steering movement which is primarily imparted by the skater to the forward portion of the skate to be transmitted through the gearing arrangement to the roller at the reverse portion of the skate so that the two rollers turn in synchronization.

A further feature of the gearing arrangement is that it prevents any misalignment of the rollers 15 which might be caused by the sideways push or thrust on the skate which occurs during the stroke motion of straight skating. The gears 36-38 and 36-3S produce a locking effect upon the occurrence of such side thrusts which prevents pivotal motion of the rollers. s will be seen by the following example, this feature of the gearing arrangement is particularly due to the relative positions of the gears 38 and 38' in the respective housings 18 and 1.8.

Assume that the right skate is in forward motion and that both front and rear axles 17 and 17 are at the rear of their respective slots 25, as shown in Fig. 1. Both rollers 15 are off center or to the rear of the respective vertical axes about which they pivot. A direct side pressure applied to front roller 15 causes a pressure on gear 36 tending to rotate that gear in a counter-clockwise direction. Gear 38, which is meshed with gear 36, and which is positioned on the same side of the vertical axis of member 22 as front roller 15, has a pressure applied t o itwhich tends to rotate it in a clockwise direc tion. Directside pressure applied to the rear roller 15 causes a pressure on gear 36 tending to rotate it in a c ounte'r clockwise direction. Gear 38', meshed with gear 36, has a pressure on it tending to rotate it in a counter-clockwise direction. Gear 38' is positioned in front of the vertical axis of member 22', whereas rear roller 15 is positioned to the rear of the vertical axis of member 22'. 'Sin ce gears 38 and 38' tend to turn in a jclockwise and in a countenciockwise direction, respectively, the connecting shaft 40 will not be able to turn in either direction, since the respective turning tendencies ofgea'rs 38 and 33 off-set each other. The rollers 15 will therefore be maintained in alignment and side rollingwill be eliminated.

It can be seen from the foregoing that this invention 'provide's'anew and unique skate assembly in which the rollers the skate are always provided with an ofi-set caster efiect with automatic adjustment for change from forward to reverse motion. The ofi-set caster efiect perthis easy and graceful negotiation of turns by the skater and permits the skater to impart any desired steering movement to the rollers of the skate. The gearing arrangement serves to synchronize the pivotal motion of the front and rear rollers on turns, and also serves to prevent any misalignment of the rollers due to sideway thrust on straight skating.

Furthermore, the ofi-set caster support arrangement for the skate in accordance with which the rollers are always automatically off-set from the vertical pivotal axis for both forward or reverse motion, can be used in other applications than skates, in which it is desired to provide steering motion to a roller mounted object.

While I have shown the use of only a single roller at each end of the skate, obviously the teaching of the invention could be applied to the use of more than one roller at each end of the skate.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention, and therefore, it is aimed in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

In a roller skate construction, a base plate, front and rear cylindrical housings carried by the underside of said plate, the lower end of each housing being open and interiorly threaded, an exteriorly threaded bearing nut having a central aperture, threadedly engaged in the open end of each housing, a pair of wheel carrying forks, a wheel carried by each fork, a vertical stud on each fork, each stud extending through an aperture in a bearing nut, a roller bearing assembly seated in each housing above a bearing nut, each assembly including an outer race fixed to the housing and an inner race fixed to the stud, a horizontally disposed bevel gear fixed to each stud, at its upper end, said front housing having an opening in the rear thereof and said rear housing having an opening in the front thereof, said openings forming aligned bushings, a longitudinally extending shaft rotatably mounted in said bushings and having its opposite ends extending one into each housing, a bevel gear mounted for rotation in a vertical plane carried by each end of said shaft interiorly of each housing and in mesh with its associated horizontal bevel gear whereby partial rotation of one wheel carrying fork will be imparted in equal degree to the other wheel carrying fork, a rearwardly extending projection carried by the front fork, a forwardly extending projection carried by the rear fork and a spring connecting said projections whereby normally to bias said wheels into longitudinal alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 196,230 Hutton Oct. 16, 1877 208,508 Bowen Oct. 1, 1878 949,774 Minnich Feb. 22, 1910 1,034,625 Kohler et al. Aug. 6, 1912 1,703,936 Jervoise Mar. 5, 1929 2,235,044 Ronning Mar. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 580,962 France Sept. 16, 1924 10,232 Great Britain Aug. 29, 1885 11,727 Great Britain May 18, 1909 282,418 Switzerland Aug. 1, 1952 

